1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, such as a personal computer, a mobile device, and a game machine, capable of displaying a variety of data via a display element (display unit) and to a method and a program for displaying such data in the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-capacity recording media, such as digital versatile discs (DVDs) and compact hard disks, have become widespread. In addition, wide-area networks (such as the Internet) have been used at relatively low cost. Accordingly, individuals can use a large amount of various information.
Therefore, a variety of technologies for efficiently using a variety of available information have been developed. In particular, technologies for associating data related to each other and data having a relationship have been developed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-030145 describes technology that improves the ease of use of a so-called bookmark function that stores uniform resource locators (URLs) of frequently accessed web sites.
According to the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-030145, a reduced image of a frequently accessed web page can be generated. After a reduced image known as a thumbnail image is generated, this image can be associated with the corresponding URL and can be stored. In this technology, a plurality of the stored thumbnail images are displayed in the form of a list. A user can rapidly and reliably searches for and accesses a desired web site using the displayed thumbnail images.
Thus, the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-030145 can manage a thumbnail image generated by reducing the image of a web page in association with the URL thereof. Therefore, the user can select a frequently accessed web site from among a variety of web sites via the thumbnail images. By selecting a thumbnail image, the user can rapidly and reliably uses a frequently accessed web site. In this way, the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-030145 provides one possibility to facilitate the usage of a variety of available information.